Different Flocks
by Wolfen Dreams
Summary: A response to Silver Wind Kitsue's challenge. AU. The school raised the flock as two seperate flocks with several other types of hybrids. When Fang goes undercover to Max's flock, he learns to expect what he could have never expected. Fax.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I do not, in fact, own Maximum Ride. Yes, I know, what a surprise.

Pretending to be surprised is surprisingly hard. Well, I suppose that that's not the hard part. The hard part is not letting on that you know something before you have to pretend to be surprised. Today was July 29, the day I had picked for my birthday. For the past month, it was obvious my flock had been planning something they intended to keep a secret from me. Of course, they couldn't keep it a secret for long.

About two weeks ago I'd heard Angel, Nudge, and Fern conspiring about my surprise party. They'd been hoping that they could manage to hook me up with Talon, one of the wolf kid members of our flock. I'd have to avoid that encounter. Those three would find a way to make it as awkward as possible, and I don't even like Talon as a friend. He gets too violent and hostile a lot of the time.

Once, my voice had told me to respect my enemies, to realize that they were the same as us, and to see their weaknesses as not only a good way to attack them, but a good way for them to attack us. When I'd told the flock about it, Talon had instantly reared up, shouting that we were nothing like them, and how dare my voice even say such a thing. It'd taken both of the tiger human members of our flock to calm him down.

Yes, I said tiger human. Although I've been referring to us as a flock, we're not really. Not all of us are bird kids. But it's essentially the same as a flock. We travel together, look out for each other, take care of each other. But with so many different species, we figured it was better to just let us call us whatever the species you were would. So to the wolf kids we were a pack, the plant kids we were a garden, to the fish kids we were a school, (why they insist on using school after where we escaped from, I'll never know) to the tiger kids we were a streak, and to the bird kids we were a flock.

Our flock wasn't really that big, though with so many species of human you would think so. We even had a few humans. We had two plant kids, Fern and Frond, two tiger kids, Pocket and Stripe, two fish kids, Aqua and Fin, two wolf kids, Talon and Priam, three humans, Jack, Joe, and Tim, and four bird kids, me, Angel, Nudge, and the Gasman. We had sixteen members, and I was fairly sure the other flock had fifteen.

Okay, I got a little sidetracked there. But anyway, I didn't want to disappoint my flock, I knew they'd be so excited about finally planning something for me, and I didn't want to ruin their fun. Trouble is, every once in a while, I'd almost mention that I didn't want to be hooked up with Talon at the party, or whatever. I figured I could do a decent "surprised" face.

So now I'm sitting here with Pocket, whose going on about how obvious it was I knew. Apparently, if you say one morning, "Wow. You're all being very secretive. I wonder if you are planning some kind of surprise…" is a giveaway. Although, Pocket does say that she appears to be the only person with enough observation skills to have noticed that I knew. I told her not to tell anyone, and she'd been surprised.

"What? And ruin all their fun? It might make Angel, Fern, and Nudge depressed enough to stop trying to get you alone with Talon. Trust me, watching you avoid it is about as much entertainment as there's been around here since the time they locked you in a closet with Frond and left you there all night."

"That wasn't funny. He wouldn't stop whining about how boring it was. And when he fell asleep, he drooled on my shoulder."

"I know," Pocket replied happily, "Watching you chase those three down was the fun part. They laughing so hard that they tripped over each other, and you were so tired, you could stay straight up for the entire chase. Funniest thing I've seen in my life. Not that that's saying much. Not much to laugh at in our lives."

I frowned. She was referring, of course, to our time at the school. Experiments, tests, living in dog crates way too small, hearing the shrieks from the testing room next door. For most of us, our time there had become a broken, fragmented bunch of memories, but one of Pocket's skills was both a blessing and a curse. She could remember anything perfectly. Useful when we get to a new territory. Unimaginably painful for her, because the memories of the school wouldn't, couldn't, fade away.

She actually handled it well. Better than I would have, anyway. She seemed to have a natural happiness that overshadowed the painful memories most of the time. However, occasionally, she'd close her eyes and wince, and I'd know she was stuck in one of those horrible crystal-clear memories that wouldn't go away.

The rest of the night had gone well. I'd only been cornered once, and two seconds later, dinner was announced. We had hamburgers, and as to how they got the meat, I didn't really want to ask. They might have held a lemonade stand or something, but I doubted it.

By the end of the evening, I was full, happy, and grateful to be the accepted leader of such a great group of mutants like me.

MR

I watched my flock quietly. Some had anxious faces, others grieving, a few impassive, and most impatient. Mane had said that today was the birthday of the other flock's leader. Her name was something like Matt. Some kind of boy name. But he'd said that the flock would likely hold some kind of party to celebrate it. A few members of the flock had said that today would be a good day to attack, to strike back for the lost battle two weeks ago. They wouldn't see it coming, be prepared, amidst all their merriment. But some of our members were still injured, and we would have to travel to get there. Even if it might benefit us, no one was going to be left behind. Not as long as I was in control.

_Which, judging by some of these expressions, might be challenged, _I mused. I wasn't worried about it though. Those strong enough to stand a chance against me were happy with my decision. It didn't really matter, though. If someone thought they could do better, they could give it a shot. Its not as easy as it looks.

"Why are we just sitting here?!" Mane finally shouted. "We should be attacking! Taking revenge!" Mane had been especially hostile towards her former flock. She's not happy she was exiled; I can read it in her face. She really wishes she were back with them, which would be enough for me to exile her without question, but she needed someone to keep her safe. And she wasn't planning on turning on us, I could tell.

"I already answered that." I said quietly. I didn't need to speak louder, anyway. Everyone would still hear me. "We can't leave our injured here. What if the school comes looking and finds them? Or if that party Mane says they'll have extends into our borders? We'd be jeopardizing some of our own flock. No. We wait until everyone's fully healed before we attack."

"Then we should be planning!" I looked to who had spoken. Sarah. One of the humans in our flock. They'd been kept at the school for comparative testing, seeing how humans responded to the same tests we were given. She'd been one of the humans to survive long enough to be there for The Great Breakout.

We always called it that. The Great Breakout. Both flocks had managed to get away when they'd put all of us into one testing room. I figured they'd wanted to see how we reacted to each other. But one of the girls from the other flock had shouted some gibberish and her flock had all screamed and charged. Everyone else followed the lead and managed to charge out of there with no casualties. After that, the two groups had separated and gone away.

"That we can do," I murmured. Iggy, the only other bird kid in my flock, spoke up.

"Lets try to gather what we know about the other flock. The idea Mane had would have been good if we didn't have injured flock members." A lot of people looked up in interest. We'd never really thought about trying real tactics. Mostly, it was practice technique, and when we ran into each other attack.

"Well. Today's Max's birthday." Dream stated. Everyone glanced around.

"And that's about it." Wake said after a few moments' pause. Some looked over to Mane, expecting her to add something. She'd been the most recent person to come over, so she'd know the most.

"What? I told you about Max's birthday. I'm not a total traitor. I'm not saying anything else." A few of us nodded. We understood. A flock was like a family. Even if you are kicked out, you don't just go giving away secrets. And we didn't want anyone from our flock going and telling them our secrets. I knew even if some thought she should tell us, they wouldn't push.

"I've got an idea." Jim spoke up. Another non-mutant. "Why don't we send one of us over there." Most stared incredulously at him. "I'm serious!" he said defensively. "We can have one of us go over there and pretend to be exiled. They'll most likely accept them like we did Mane. Then they could learn about the flock, and eventually meet back up with us. They'd tell us all we need to know, and we could get back at them." I heard various murmurs of assent. This was a good idea. And whoever it was wouldn't have attachment to the flock, as they wouldn't be a real member. At least to them. To the flock, they'd have to be.

"Wait!" Dream said. "It would take at least a little bit before they would trust whoever we send. We'd have to attack by then! Our injured pride members will be healed within two days! And how's our spy supposed to attack his own pride members?"

"It won't be hard. Just go easy on us. They'd do fine. And we'd know to go easy on them. Make it like a spar. We spar all the time." Fred stated. Dream seemed appeased.

"That should work. I should have thought of that."

"I'll do it." I said. I'd been thinking about who should go since they started. Everyone turned and gaped at me.

"But you're our leader!" Kin protested in his little six year old voice.

"Which means I'd have the best excuse for exile. Say whoever I put in charge overtook me, and didn't want my threat to remain." I could see a lot of frowns, but I could tell that most thought it was a good idea.

"That makes sense." Red said. Everyone seemed to support the idea, as most the frowns disappeared.

"Who do you put in charge then?" Iggy asked. I could tell he wasn't happy with losing his only fellow bird kid.

"You." I replied. "You're the next oldest, and even though you're blind, you can hold your own in a fight. Plus, you know my fighting style. They'd believe that you overtook me." Iggy was still uncomfortable, but I could see that he was a little pleased at the praise. I stood up.

"I'm going to bed. I suspect being exiled might take some energy, so I'm going to get some sleep. Night."


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I'm saving my money right now for one of Fang's left wing feathers. Until then, I own nothing.

The next morning was almost enough to make me regret offering to be the one to go. Iggy seemed a combination of sad and panicked, and the rest of the flock was just flat out sad. I didn't really think they'd care that much. I wasn't really all that important. At least, I never thought so. Plus, Iggy would let them blow up stuff, whereas I usually tried to keep explosions to a minimum.

"Exile!" Dream shouted, pointing at me. Everyone turned to glare at her, and she smiled weakly.

"What? I'm just trying to lighten the mood a little!" I chuckled appreciatively. Of course she would try do make everyone feel better. And it seemed to be working too; I could hear a few other nervous laughs.

"Okay guys. Don't worry about stuff; I shouldn't take much more than a month or two at most. I don't think they'd tell me important stuff right away, so I'll probably have to stay there for at least three weeks. Be careful, and Iggy?" Iggy turned to face me to show he was listening. "Don't let they blow up the whole forest, okay? If they do, we'll have no cover from attacks." Iggy smiled weakly.

"Sure thing. Good luck. And be careful."

"I'll see you guys later." I said, as I spread my wings and headed off.

MR

After a couple hours of flying, I spotted the other flock. They seemed to be just getting up. After about an hour of observing, I'd found out that this flock had an awful more bird kids than ours did. That was good. I'd fit in well if there was more mutants like me. I was debating on the best way to approach them when I saw their leader (What did Mane say her name was again? Oh, right. Max.) tense.

MR

We'd slept late this morning. It was about 9:30, and I usually tried to have us all up at eight. An attack, even if a guard had woken us up, would be deadly if we'd all been asleep just before said attack. However, we seemed safe. Not that I expected that to happen all the time. If I even considered changing the wake-up time, with my luck, the attack I'm so paranoid about would come that same day. It just the way things worked for me. Damn Murphy and his stupid law. The wind blew, and I smelt something in the air. I tensed. It was clearly a bird kid, and since the Gasman, Angel, and Nudge were upwind, that left two options: One, some other previously unknown bird kid escaped from the school. Possible. Two, the other flock was nearby and planning an attack. Probable.

I immediately scanned the foliage of the trees behind me. If it was a false alarm, like my mind playing tricks on me or something, I didn't want the worry the flock unnecessarily. Finally, I caught sight of a dark wing that I recognized. It was the leader of the other flock. I shouted as loud as I could and still feel that the figure in the tree wouldn't hear me.

"Flock, get over here! I think I can see the other flock. C'mon, lets get them before they get us!" I lead them over to where the tree was, but as I got closer, I could see that there was no one else in the forest other than the winged leader I'd seen in the tree. As I approached, he dropped down. He walked forward slowly with his hands up, showing he had not weapons.

"What do you want?" I asked. "Where's the rest of your flock?"

"With Iggy most likely." He answered. I stared blankly.

"That doesn't answer my question. What do you want? And who's Iggy?"

"I want somewhere that I can be safe from the school. I was kicked out because Iggy, one of my flock members, felt he could lead better than I could. He overtook me in a fight, and exiled me. I figured I had to get to you because my flock wasn't taking me back, and I was like a present for the school, pre-wrapped, if I was by myself." I frowned.

"And how am I supposed to know this isn't some kind of trap where as soon as I turn to lead you to camp your flock comes out of nowhere and shoots me?"

"You don't." He answered simply. I could tell by the posture of the flock behind me that this was completely up to me. They felt sorry for him, but they wouldn't mind if I left him, because he was right. We didn't know. I decided to stall.

"What's your name?"

"Fang."

"Right. Okay Fang. I'm Max." I sighed. "We're going to trust you. You can come with us, stay with us, fight with us, and we'll let you. I'm not going to pretend like we're going to instantly accept you though. We've been in enough fights with your flock that its justified, and if you give me reason to, I will gladly send you packing."

"Thanks." Fang said quietly. I looked over to see my flock's expressions. Most seemed pleased. Especially Nudge, who I expected was delighted that she'd have one more person who hadn't been talked to death sixteen times over. In fact, about two minutes after we started to head back to camp I could hear her babbling about how she thought that silver fish tasted better than pink fish. What got her on that topic, I'll never know. For the most part, the only one who looked dissatisfied was Talon. But that didn't surprise me, considering his distaste for the other flock. I could already tell this was going to lead to plenty of chaos to our lives. As if we needed more.

MR

I faced the flock, my flock, for now. I couldn't hear much from the older members, although a couple sniffles could be heard from the younger members and Dream. The atmosphere felt tense. I knew it would take a while before they could get used to going on as a flock with Fang gone. Heck, It'd take a while before I could. I knew Fang didn't think himself important. That was his unspoken reason for volunteering, maybe even unthought reason. He, for some reason, thought that he was the loss the flock could function without the best. Fang has the worst self-esteem issues of anyone I know.

"C'mon everyone. Let's head back to camp. Start cooking something to eat, or something. We can swim in the lake later today." I could tell this cheered the younger one a bit.

"D'you think Fang'll be okay?" Kin asked. I turned to his voice.

"Of course. If anyone can be okay in any situation, its Fang. He'll be fine. But he'll be awful mad if he finds out we sat around and moped the whole time he was gone. Lets get some food, then we can swim." I heard the flock head into the forest, and I followed, dodging trees by memory. Three steps forward, one to the left, seven steps forward, one to the right…

As I headed to the camp, I planned out what I could of the next couple weeks. Not that it was a very good one. When you're being hunted by a group of psychotic genetic scientist, schedules don't work well. For some reason, that don't attack only when its convienent. Go figure. I could already tell these next couple weeks would be tough without Fang. I wasn't ready to be leader. He should have picked someone who would do a better job, like Red. But Fang thought I could do it, so I'd at least try.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **You caught me. I'm actually James Patterson. That's why I'm on a **fanfiction** website instead of writing books I can make money off of. Not. I own nothing.

About an hour after our new arrival, I was sitting in my room. Okay, so it wasn't really a room. We didn't have a house out here, (too obvious) so there were no rooms. This was just an area of the campsite that I claimed as "mine." It was as close to a room as we got anyway. A place to put my sleeping bag, any junk I'd accumulated through various measures, wasn't that what room was? The upside was, we weren't limited in the amount of rooms like in a house. If we ran out, we could just extend the campsite. So everyone got their own "rooms."

I'd put Fang next to my "room." If he turned in the middle of the night, either I'd hear him and wake everyone up, or I'd be the first one killed, scream my head off, and wake everyone up. I kinda preferred the former option though. Or better yet, the he doesn't attack anyone option.

Talon came storming over to me. I could tell that, had there been a door, he would have slammed it.

"What are you thinking?!" He shouted. It was obvious what he was talking about, but I didn't feel like making it easy on him.

"What do you mean?"

"Letting him come with us. Showing him the campsite. He's an outsider. He's from the other flock. He's going to kill us all in our sleep, or rat us out!" I frowned.

"I'm thinking that I'll be keeping a close eye on him. I'm thinking that there's a chance he's telling the truth. I'm thinking that if he is, even if he is from the other flock, I'm not letting the School take him. It's like he said, without a flock, he's like a pre-wrapped present with a tag saying 'to the School.'"

"So because some member of the other flock comes over here, the leader no less, you instantly take him in because he said they kicked him out?"

"Yes." I said. Talon shook his head.

"You're putting us all at risk. He could kill us all, and then where would we be?"

"Dead. Listen. I'm not going to pretend we should include him in everything and trust him implicitly. That would be stupid. I'm saying we give him some protection in case he is telling the truth. He can earn our trust. And in the meantime, I won't be letting my guard down around him." Talon shook his head and walked away.

"I'm sorry. I'm causing trouble." Said a voice behind me. I instantly jumped in shock and sent a roundhouse kick to where the voice was coming from. Only to come face to face with the subject of mine and Talon's argument.

"Oh my god. Don't do that." I said, putting my hand over my heart. So didn't hear him coming. So much for the "Keep a close eye on him" plan. He could have killed me just then, I was willing to bet. "No. It's not a problem. Talon's always like that. He'll get used to you." I looked at his face. He seemed troubled over something. Suddenly it occurred to me that he probably heard how I wasn't really trusting him.

"I told you when you first arrived, we're not going to trust you right away." He shrugged. I couldn't read his expression, although something told me that I should get used to it.

I sat down on my sleeping bag, hoping to get some sleep so I could take first shift tonight. Of course, with all that happened today, that was so not happening.

"Hi Max!" Angel walked up to me.

"Hey Angel. Did you want something?" I asked.

"No, not really. I just heard you and Talon fighting, and I wanted to know why." Of course.

"Talon doesn't think I should have taken Fang in. I think that I did what I should have. Talon's mad, and apparently, more paranoid than I am."

"Oh. I thought it was something like that. Talon doesn't think nice things about Fang. In fact, the nicest thought I picked up from Talon was that Fang had nice wings, and they'd make a good trophy." I suppressed my gag reflex.

"Lovely. I'm glad to know I've taught you all to be so civilized." Angel grinned.

"I think you did the right thing. I heard the other flock took in Mane." Angel tensed when she noticed me stiffen. Mane was a touchy subject. She hadn't thought much of my leading abilities, and had decided to challenge me for them. Which would have been fine if her form of challenge wasn't coming up behind me with a knife when I was sleeping. I'd have to say that was about the only time I'd been happy to have a voice in my head, as it had woken me up just in time to notice her. Take it from me, waking up to find someone you'd spent the past three years with holding a knife over your head is not exactly fun.

I'd decided I'd rather not take the chance that sometime my voice wouldn't be listening and I'd wake up dead. So I'd sent her away, and last I heard the other flock took her in. I wish them the best of luck with her. Maybe she'll like Iggy better.

"Yeah.Well, its not like we could just leave him there to die. That would be… wrong." Angel nodded.

"I'd better go find Nudge. She's thinking something about Fern, growing, and water. I want to see this experiment." I shook my head as Angel walked away.

MR

Angel hurried across the campsite. She wanted to get to Nudge before she soaked Fern in her plan. From what she'd heard, Fern was complaining about being short, so Nudge had decided since Fern was part plant, a little more water being poured on her would help. Nudge really did mean well, only she had forgotten to inform Fern of her plan.

As predicted, Fern didn't take well to her surprise shower. It was rather entertaining to watch. The downside was, Fern didn't believe that it was to help her grow. Nor did she believe that Angel had nothing to do with it. So Angel was currently running for her life. She knew she couldn't stay in the lead for long. She'd need to catch her breath before she could use her powers to mentally calm Fern, and Fern ran faster than she could.

Finally, she was coming up on a flock member, just far enough ahead of Fern that if she hid, Fern wouldn't see where she did so. And, best of all, all the flock liked her enough not to wish her death by Fern. As she approached, she noticed it was Fang. Of course. The one member of the flock who had not yet encountered her charming nature. He was just as likely to assist Fern as her. _Might as well try, _Angel thought.

"Fang, quick. Hide me! Fern's going to kill me for pouring water on her even though it was Nudge, so can you hide me and not tell her so I can calm her down!" Angel said in a rush. Fang said nothing, though he pointed toward his bag. It was just big enough to fit a six year old bird kid. Even better, if Fern questioned the full bag, he could just say he wasn't done unpacking, and Fern wouldn't want to go rummaging through his stuff.

Angel quickly crammed herself into the bag and waited, slowing her breathing to the point where Fern would not hear her breathing when she passed by. After a few seconds, she heard running footsteps, and heard Fang walk towards the bag.

"Coast's clear." He said quietly. Angel crawled out of the bag.

"Thanks so much! Fern would have killed me! She's madder than Pocket was the time we pushed her into a lake. Just give me a minute to calm her down." Angel closed her eyes and listened for Fern's thoughts. After a few seconds, she found them.

_Angel…Kill… Water… Nudge…cold! _Angel sent some calming thoughts towards her, and finally she heard Fern's thoughts calm. When it was down to just cause Nudge several painful injuries, she figured it was safe. At least she knew Nudge could handle it from here. And it was Nudge's fault that Angel had been chased.

"I'm Angel." She said, turning back to Fang. Fang nodded. "The madwoman was Fern. She was angry because Nudge threw water on her." He still said nothing, though he arched an eyebrow. "Fern had been complaining about being short, so Nudge decided a little watering would help a plant girl grow." Fang still remained silent. "Do you say anything to anyone except Max?" She asked.

"No." He answered, the right corner of his mouth quirking upwards slightly.

"Oh." She said in slight puzzlement. After a few seconds pondering on the fact that he managed to contradict himself using only one word, Angel shrugged it off and skipped away. Maybe she would warn Nudge of the fate awaiting her next encounter with Fern…


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride, and if I did, I think someone would have told me

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Maximum Ride, and if I did, I think someone would have told me.

**A/N: **Is it a zombie? Pretty close. It's an update, if you can believe it. Yes, I have resurrected myself from the dead. Amazing, isn't it?

MR

Alphas led. They ruled, they taught, they controlled, they were loved and they were feared. Alphas were what gave a pack its power, what gave it the chance to be something powerful, something to be respected. Even so, with the need to dominate all others, Alphas always cared. They worried about pack-mates before themselves, they kept everyone safe, and responsibility came before any want. This is what Alphas were, what they did, and what they were meant to do.

I always accepted these things to be true. They're not things I've ever thought about, not things I've ever thought to think about. They just _were._ Perhaps this is why I've always been so happy not to be leading. Because I understand the entirety of what it entails, how everyone depends upon you, and how you need to take care of all before yourself.

And we already had an Alpha. And Alphas were to be obeyed, before anything else. Only when they ceased to be the strongest, only when they ceased in their duties, were they to be challenged. But when they cease in their duties, someone must challenge them. For the good of the pack (because the pack comes before the Alpha).

Max had stopped doing her job as Alpha. Making a stupid mistake like that, letting the enemy come into camp, join us and eat with us and sleep with us. That put the pack in danger, and that is the worst that an Alpha can do.

I don't understand everything, and I don't pretend to. I don't hope to either. There's too much to understand anyway. I only know my pack, I only know my world within my pack, and I can only hope to protect my pack. Because whether or not Max knows it, she's not the Alpha any more. She stopped being Alpha when she stopped keeping to her duties, started making stupid decisions. The pack comes before I do now, because I know that the pack has to be kept safe. I'm the Alpha now, because no one else is stepping up, and someone needs to.

MR

I am not having a good day. It may be that Fang isn't very talkative and doesn't reply to me when I speak. It may be that Angel is reading my mind, _again. _It may be that Fern is mad at me, and won't listen to me. It is probably that my life is forfeit if Angel hasn't gotten into Fern's mind yet, but mostly, it is because I am currently too out of breath to speak.

"Max... hide... Fern... death!" I panted, out of breath.

"What was that, Nudge?" Max asked, somewhat distracted as she looked through her things.

"Fern's going to kill me! She's going to rip me to shreds and feed me to the Erasers!" Max stopped digging through her bag.

"What?"

"Fern was mad because she was shorter than Angel, and I told her that it was just something weird, but she didn't care so I thought maybe since she was a plant she wasn't getting enough water to grow properly so I tried pouring water on her because that always works on short plants, only I forgot to warn Fern because I thought I told her only it was actually that I ran the theory by Frond. By the way, those two look too much alike for their own good. So, I poured the water on Fern, and she might have believed me if it was room tempeture, but I got water from the river and I forgot that it was cold, and I poured it on her and now she's trying to kill me!"

Max sighed. "Would it kill you not to create chaos, Nudge?" I glare.

"I just told you! It wasn't my fault! I was just trying to help." Max laughed.

"Really? Well, please don't try to help me any time soon." I huffed.

"Why aren't you taking my side?"

"Because you dumped cold water on poor Fern." I widened my eyes.

"Does this mean you are going to _let_ her feed me to the Erasers?!" Max laughed again.

"Maybe."

"You wouldn't." I say.

"Oh, Fern!" Max shouted. "Nudge is over here!" I start to run away, but I can already hear Max talking to Fern.

"Don't go too hard on her. She thought she was helping." I sighed in relief.

"Does this mean I can't chase her anymore. I _am_ soaking wet and cold."

"No, no. Feel free to chase her. Just keep the dismemberment to a minimum." My eyes widen once more, and I start my flight again.

I am really not having a good day.

MR

I miss my flock. I've only been away for two days, and I miss my flock. It's night now, and I'm trying to sleep. The stars in the sky are winking above me, and it's strange to note that they are the same here as they are back where my flock is resting now (I hope. Iggy could be letting them stay up later than they should be). I can see the same constellations we named in some of our earlier days of freedom.

A jaguar ready to pounce that we call Spots (named for a flock member who died before The Great Breakout), a buck not too far from Spots (Red dubbed him 'Deadmeat'), a rabbit that Kin had named 'Lunch.'

I fell asleep watching the stars and thinking of my flock, and I dreamed of my childhood.

_I am small. Smaller than I've been in years and I don't know what to make of it. I'm back in my dog crate (ohgodohgodohgod) but it seems bigger than I ever remembered it. The voices outside it are speaking and I don't listen, won't listen, can't listen. They're saying what they are planning, and there's no preparing for the atrocities and the best I can hope for is that I don't hear it, don't have to worry and fear it until it happens. I'm blocking them out but the voices break into my consciousness anyway._

"_Why would you raise them separated by species? They'll just develop as they would if they were not hybrids. The predators will hunt the prey, and the prey will outnumber the predators. We're looking for new discoveries, not what we already know!"_

"_But they all have human? How would this affect the food chain? Would it affect it? That is what we are seeking to discover."_

"_Think. Humans exploit the weak. Predators exploit the weak. Nothing will change. Separate them into two groups. Keep them separate at all times, and we'll see what happens then. Don't let them form species ties. Which species room are we in?"_

"_Bird, sir."_

"_Right. Hmm…" I see him looking in each of our cages. I look into the others' cages. Everyone's asleep except for me and Max. We're awake._

"_These two are alert. I thought we had them sedated."_

"_A few hours ago. The dose shouldn't have worn off quite yet, but it's not implausible."_

"_Mhmm… These two are the strong ones then. They'll be separated. Can't have too much strength in one group. Take the dark one out, and… and the blind one. They'll be put in a different group, but the rest will stay here. Come, lets look at the other species." Footsteps tell him of their exit._

"_Fang?" Max whispers. "Did you hear that?" I nod. "They're not going to let us see each other anymore, are they? You or Iggy."_

"_I don't think so." I whisper._

"_We'll still be friends, though, right?" I nod again._

_)O(_

_I'm in a new room now, a new crate too. In my old one, I'd scratched a row of sharp teeth in the back left corner, but there's nothing there now. There are more crates in this room, and I look around._

_Before I can observe more than that there are more crates, my door opens. Caution stops me from immediately running out, but not for long. I run to the door, but it's locked anyway. The other crates are opened too, and I think a few of the other experiments are crawling out._

"_Fang!" Iggy says. "Where's the girls, and Gasman?"_

"_Somewhere else. They're separating us." I answer. The other experiments have left their crates, and they band together in groups depending on the species. I can see three wolves, two fish, a jaguar, a panther, and two rabbits. The cats stand closer to each other than any of the other species do, as if they feel weak by being alone and are staying by the one closest to them._

_The panther is the first to speak, and she turns to me._

"_I'm Dream. Who're all of you? I didn't know any other experiments survived."_

_Iggy answers for me. "I'm Iggy, and this is Fang. We were with four other bird kids." Everyone takes this as a cue to introduce themselves._

_The jaguar, who introduces herself as Spots, is the oldest at eight years and quickly takes a leadership spot._

"_Anyone know why we were all put in here?" She asks. No one answers, so Fang is the only one who knows._

"_I heard them talking." Spots turns sharply to look at him._

"_They said that they had sedated me, but they misjudged the dosage, and I woke up while they were talking. They were saying something about experimenting, seeing something different, and keeping us away from our species." Spots snorts._

"_Please. I'm the only one of my species." All of the other cats agree, but everyone else looks to the rest of their group._

"_I think we're going to be kept together. They were talking about raising us in the groups." Spots takes another look._

"_You got all this before they noticed you were awake?" I nod. "And they got the dosage wrong?" She looks mildly impressed. "Impressive for a bird." The words 'but not for a cat' remain unspoken, but they hang in the air._

_)O(_

_We've been waiting for hours for Spots to come back. She's not back yet._

_We've been waiting for days for Spots to come back. She's not back yet._

_We've been waiting for weeks for Spots to come back. She's not back yet._

_Spots is not coming back, and the flock says I'm leader now._

"_Hey! Spots was my best friend. She always said you were alright for a bird. I think you'd make a great leader," Dream says. The rest of the flock nods._

"_I don't think so." Cane, the oldest wolf. "I don't think you belong here at all." A snarl, and I step back._

"_Not at all…"_

"Not at all…"

I wake up with claws on my neck and surprise on my face.


End file.
